


All The Magic Light

by mansikka



Series: Shade Falls On Us [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Happy, Hopeful Ending, Immortality, M/M, Magic, POV Alec, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-26 12:19:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12058857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Alec is learning how to use his magic and adjusting to his new life.





	All The Magic Light

Alec wonders how long it’s going to take for him to be able to get used to his magic.  

It’s not so much that he doesn’t think he can use it, because the practice he and Magnus have put in has shown him all he has to do is _think_ right, and he can do pretty much whatever Magnus tells him he can do. His faith in him is endless, Alec smiles, and though they’ve not yet pushed his magic too hard, that faith Magnus is showing in him makes it seem like anything is possible.

But the way it flows in him, a whisper of power just beneath his surface; that’s going to take a little time adjusting to. It’s not like another network of veins within his body as such, nor is it a free floating force that’s sifting its way through his blood. It’s just with him, and in him, and _is_ him; there’s nothing he’s experienced in his short life that he has any chance of comparing it to, Alec thinks, his eyes falling to Magnus with a smile.

Magnus makes the magic look effortless. He’s standing less than three feet in front of him—shirtless, of course, because why wouldn’t he add the ultimate of distractions. And he’s performing the complicated dance of what Alec knows is a form of tai chi; with spinning spheres of his magic turning effortlessly a few inches from each of his palms, dancing across them in shimmering streams as though they’re only an extension of his limbs. Alec’s not sure he’ll ever get to look as graceful as that.

“I have been practicing a little longer than you,” Magnus says to him, calm and steady as though he’s not exerting himself at all—and as though he’s reading Alec’s mind. He probably is in a way, Alec smiles, because they’ve always been good at sensing what one another is thinking, but with their magic now coiling between them it’s like there’s this entire other sense they share.

Alec knows he is just as much a distraction to Magnus as he is to him, however, so he closes that gap between them without warning and cups his face, pulling him into a kiss, smiling as the globes of magic stutter out either side of him.

“That’s… one way to get my attention,” Magnus smiles in the few seconds Alec gives him to speak, and then he’s ducking in again, humming his way into his mouth and crowding up against him until Magnus is stumbling back, going willingly, making no effort to stop him at all.  

“It’s what you get for showing off,” Alec counters when he needs to take his own breath, earning himself an amused chuckle. Magnus can’t deny that wasn’t what he’s doing, not with the extra flourish of his fingers or the deliberate undulation of his movements, knowing full well all the ways to get and keep Alec’s undivided focus.

“I suppose,” Magnus agrees, raising and clicking his fingers, and Alec’s skin ripples in surprise at the sense of being bared, still not quite used to the ease with which Magnus uses his magic to undress him. Not that he’s not done that countless times in the past, of course; it’s just that now he’s got his own magic he can technically do the same with yet is yet to try, it feels different. He can’t quite explain it, but he’s not going to complain, not with the endless span of skin now there beneath the stretch of his palm.

They tumble to a scatter of pillows, and Magnus conjures even more of them from inside, arranging them beneath them so neither can complain of discomfort.  

They’re at a lake house overlooking an endless stretch of water, with the nearest neighbor somewhere off in the distance; Alec only knows there is a neighbor because they have a bright red boat bobbing that catches his eye every now and then where it's tied up against the shore. He's not seen anyone else in person.

It’s beautiful here, still, quiet; exactly what Alec thinks he needs in this period of adjustment. He didn’t know he needed it of course, but Magnus seemed to reach into his mind and pull out the ideal location anyway.

Alec has another couple of seconds to take in his surroundings, to tilt his head back and see the confused mosquitoes hammering against Magnus’ wards trying to get through for a feast. But then Magnus is crawling between his legs, pressing on his knees so he knows to splay them wide, smiling at him wickedly enough to have Alec’s stomach jolting with anticipation. That, and the way he’s bared himself like this, of course—even if they really are in the middle of nowhere.

Magnus takes a long, long look over him, heat in his eyes as he holds him in place, not even touching him yet making Alec’s cock jolt to life all the same. Magnus’ eyes fall to watch, his lips twitching up as he stirs, and Alec’s never felt so exposed—or free.

“Alexander,” Magnus says in that quiet, worshipful way of his, but Alec doesn’t have time nor the words to answer. He’s too busy stuttering, digging his fingers into the pillows either side him as Magnus bends down, and licks a long stripe up the length of him. Repeating the action as he thickens, humming against his shaft as Alec wordlessly voices how good it feels to have the heat of his mouth on him next to the coolness of the air over his wet skin when he pulls back.  

Magnus sucks him down then, and Alec’s arching up off the pillows, that engulfing heat not something that’s new to him by any means, yet still startles him every time with just how good it feels. Magnus splays his hands either side of his cock to keep him in place, occasionally swirling a thumb out over his balls, or dropping it to tease between his cheeks, but his sole focus is on his cock, sucking and swirling out his tongue in all the places he’s learned make Alec groan out the way he’s doing right now—loud, and he’s sure, is echoing out over the water.

Magnus pulls off him without warning a little later, just when Alec’s stomach is starting to boil, and he’s straddling Alec’s lap, clicking his fingers then moving them behind himself, and Alec has a glimpse of their slickness seconds before Magnus is sinking down on them, humming as he stretches himself open. Not that he needs much of that, Alec thinks with a thick swallow; it’s only been a few hours since they were last like this, only last time it was with Alec pinning him to the decking, and the very reason why they’re now surrounded by so many soft furnishings when he complained of it digging into his knees.

Magnus grins down at him as though he’s reading his mind yet again, and Alec strokes out to grab his hips, angling him back so he can watch what he’s doing to himself for a few seconds before Magnus is sitting back up again, reaching down to stroke over Alec’s cock before gripping him, then lowering himself on to him with a low, contented moan.

Alec arches up to meet him instinctively, planting his feet firmly on the decking and spreading his knees, holding Magnus firmly in place as he fucks up into him, and shooting his own triumphant smile up at him for the way Magnus crumples and moans.

He lets Magnus take over, of course, because there’s nothing quite like watching the way Magnus rides him, every stir of his hips and biting down on his lips, the way his head falls back with a stutter when Alec reaches out to stroke him over.  

He might not have his stamina rune anymore, Alec thinks to himself, but he’s fairly sure they could lose hours indulging in each other like this anyway, angling Magnus back a little to watch the way he’s spearing him open, then angling himself the way he knows is guaranteed to have Magnus falling forward.

“Alec…”  

Magnus chokes out his name, bracing himself hard against Alec’s shoulders, whimpering as Alec spreads his hands wide and presses down to keep him still. And then he’s holding him wide open, rolling his hips up just so, smiling as Magnus falls into his neck with a whimper, and Alec has to close his eyes to the heat of Magnus surrounding him.

There is nothing more indulgent than this, Alec thinks to himself, turning his head just a fraction so Magnus knows he wants to be kissed. Magnus’ hand sneaks in to cradle the back of his neck, his other still in a tight grip around his shoulder, and soon he’s whimpering with the need to move, whining and writhing in Alec’s lap in ways that mean he won’t be able to deny him for very long.  

He holds on though, just a little longer, just as long as he can, buoyed by the noises that Magnus is making and the needy little kisses he’s pressing into his throat.  

When Alec releases him Magnus arches up with a cry, circling his hips for a couple of stirs and staring down at himself as he does, then spreading his hands wide over Alec’s sides and slamming down on him hard enough to make the decking creak beneath them. And Alec watches, letting Magnus claim total control of the situation once again, resting his hands in a light grip around his waist as Magnus rides him.

It’s always difficult for Alec to know where to look first when he’s got him like this, but he greedily takes it all in, first studying the pleasure rippling over Magnus' face, then cataloguing the leaking of his cock as he moves, occasionally reaching out for a lazy stroke that has Magnus whimpering more, and riding him harder still.

Alec shifts a little, and the angle change is apparently a good one, because Magnus is crying out again, slamming down harder still, and then tensing up, his mouth gaping open as a broken _oh_ bursts out of his lips, and Alec watches as he stutters, then falls forward as he comes over his chest.  

There isn’t a sight much better than this one, Alec thinks, giving Magnus a few seconds to calm before gripping him tighter and thrusting up into him, flooding him only a few strokes later, arching up with a long groan that almost jostles Magnus from his lap.  

Magnus is quick to right himself though, raising his hand for a moment and cleaning them up with a click of his fingers then falling forward again, depositing practically his full weight on Alec’s chest. Not that Alec minds, swiping greedy hands up over his back and tugging him closer still.

“It’s going to take us quite a while to unlock all the potential of your magic if we keep resorting to this,” Magnus mumbles into his ear, kissing his way down his neck.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Alec tells him, feeling the way his lips curve up into the smile.

“Really, Alexander; and to think I once feared that I might startle you just by trying to hold your hand,” Magnus teases, and Alec can’t help grinning up at him, raising both his hands for Magnus to slot his fingers through.

They stare at each other then, so many unspoken things passing between them, but nothing else currently feels as urgent as this.  

Alec drops his hands to hold Magnus’ waist again and tilts his chin up asking to be kissed, and when they’ve lost themselves in that for a few minutes Alec is holding Magnus up as he pulls off him, then guiding him to settle against his chest, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head and hugging him close.

“I love you,” he says, because there’ll never be a time when he doesn’t think Magnus needs to hear that.

“I love you too,” he hears, and it seals a smile on his face before they fall asleep.

* * *

“You have to concentrate,”

Alec rolls his eyes at Magnus’ words, but does as he’s asked, allowing the magic to bud up along the length of his fingers to join with that from his palm and form a ball-like lightning there between his outstretched hands. He supposes it’s no different from the way he learned to master the bow and arrows as a kid, and that if he keeps up this practice then summoning magic will become second nature, as effortless as Magnus always seems to make it.

A couple of weeks into them being away from New York, however, and he’s completely convinced he will never be that graceful. Though, he admits, he’s been able to do some of the harder tasks Magnus has set him, earning himself happy smiles and rewarding kisses each time he pushes his magic a little more. He feels a quiet confidence that using his magic is something that he can master over time—something he now has an abundance of.

Controlling it, though, the very reason he was so relieved to leave New York in the first place, that is something that’s going to take an incredible amount of work. It seeps into his thinking, as though it is an external expression of his mood. And that’s good, amusing even, when a single kiss from Magnus conjures everything from a cushion of roses to a rain of petals. They can smile at that, enjoy their fragrance, then make them disappear if they choose to. No one is going to be done any damage from that.

But when he’s angry, he thinks, his mood souring a little and that magic crackling in his palms accordingly, that has less of a predictable outpouring. From frustration at himself sending books scattering, or plates crashing, to mentions of the situation with the Clave and at the Institute, that result in fires that it takes even Magnus a few seconds to get control of enough so that he can put them out.  

This morning, Magnus made a joke about it being something to do with his earlier, surly personality, and the reminder of that particular version of himself had sent a crack right through the middle of the boat they were in, sending them plummeting into the lake below.  

They can both swim, so that wasn’t a problem, and, as Alec had taken a few days to realize, Magnus has altered the weather here so it isn’t the freezing temperatures it should be at this time of year, so they weren’t at risk of hypothermia. But it was definitely the cause of a sobering mood, as they made their way back to shore in soggy clothing, and Alec had spent a good few minutes sulking showing Magnus only his back.

He made it up to him, of course, because he’s powerless when it comes to Magnus, can’t bear the thought of making him unhappy for even a fleeting second. Even if his comments did dunk them both in a lake…

But the Clave, he thinks, that magic sparking up from his hands stuttering its way back out, they really are trying his patience. That they think he would submit himself to be _studied_ like some kind of animal when they had offered him no form of support, or even condolence at all for that he’s been through, is no surprise whatsoever. That doesn’t make him any less furious, however, and that he’s not been contacted directly with this ‘request’, that they’ve left it for Izzy and Jace to pick up whispers of it and subtly incorporate it into their conversations, makes him even more furious still.  

To think he’d given his entire life to the Clave, had been about to give his entire future at one point as well, and they would still treat him like this, leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, and is guaranteed to darken his mood, whatever he’s doing.   

Magnus’ sigh says he knows what he’s thinking, and in the next heartbeat Alec is being kissed sweetly, held gently, before he’s secure in arms that he knows will never not hold him, and wraps his own around Magnus’ waist, drawing him further in.

“They can’t touch you,” Magnus repeats, as he’s done several times now, “they wouldn’t dare,”

And that’s true, in some ways, Alec knows that; the Clave is not quite so stupid to go up against a respected High Warlock, one who has already made it known to everyone who’s listening—as well as those who aren’t—that Alec is in his protection. Alec had about three seconds of feeling foolish for that, weak even, but then told himself to put his ego away, and accept Magnus’ unwavering support.

“And besides. Lydia has already made it quite clear that the New York Institute under her control will have nothing to do with such measures to… reach you,” Magnus adds, running a soothing hand down his back.  

That’s also true, Alec thinks, having already spoke to Lydia in an awkward conversation over Skype, where she all but admitted that while she can’t let him back in the Institute in anything like his former capacity, and didn’t entirely think it was a good idea, or even safe for him, to show his face there at all, she would do all she could to assist him, by evading any calls to locate him for the Clave. Which will prove difficult enough, Alec thinks, knowing he can’t ask for—wouldn’t ask for—anything more than that.

He doesn’t really fear that the Clave will ever get their hands on him, Alec thinks to himself then, nuzzling into Magnus’ shoulder; he knows he can evade them if needed, and he’s got more than enough support out there for it to be a reality that’s unlikely to happen. It’s more that he hoped that they would prove him wrong, be better than the institution they have become. He’s still yet to hear from his parents, he adds to himself, slumping a little and earning himself an _I love you_ pressed into his ear.

“I don’t think I can concentrate,” Alec admits in answer to Magnus’ question from several minutes before. Magnus pulls back with a smile that says he’ll never push him, cups his cheek, then drops his hand to tangle through Alec’s.

“Then how should we spend the rest of our evening?” he asks, apparently ready to indulge Alec’s every whim. As always, Alec thinks to himself, raising their joined hands up so he can kiss the back of Magnus’ and earn himself yet another smile.

Evening, Alec thinks belatedly, looking up at the darkening sky and feeling less disappointed in himself for not practicing for longer. They must have been at it for at least a few hours if it’s already past dusk.

“You think I’ll be able to open a portal one day?” Alec asks, sidestepping the question because he isn’t sure what he wants. He’s happy to follow Magnus’ lead if he wants to go somewhere, but equally happy to curl up in that snug of blankets and pillows they’ve taken to spending so much of their time on, surrounded by books with nothing else but each other’s company. Alec knows he leads a simple life, and wonders if that doesn’t fit with an immortal one—if he should be more adventurous. He supposes he has time now to figure out other things he likes.

“Perhaps,” Magnus smiles, “though, let’s not run before we can even walk, hmm?”

“Crawl,” Alec retorts with a self-deprecating huff, “fall over. Lay there like that poor fish when we were in—”

But Magnus kisses away his grumble in between smiling at him like he can’t help himself, and Alec’s relieved that at least that’s something he’s still good at in all of this—making Magnus smile. Even if at times that means he’s probably laughing at him.

Catarina portaled in yesterday evening, with Madzie attending her very first sleepover with some warlocks of similar age. Catarina’s caution around Alec has dropped altogether, and any of his subtle attempts to say thank you, that he’ll try to make it up for all that she’s done for him to make him like this, she’s repeatedly brushed off.

“You make him happy,” she’d said yesterday, probably in this very spot, pointing to Magnus with his back turned to them as he skimmed care free pebbles over the lake while they waited for dinner, “that’s all the thanks I’m ever gonna need from you,”

Alec is pleased to know that he can give her that at least, if nothing else—at least for now, anyway.  

“I think I… I think I need to blow off some steam,” Alec says then, recognizing the way he’s itching to strike out at something without seriously meaning to do any harm. He’s beginning to build up a routine similar to what he was used to have at the Institute, though with no one to spar with, there’s an element of that he’s having to do without.  

It’s not like he can spar with Magnus; they’ve tried three times already, but each time they barely get through a few holds before they’re clawing at each other in lust and arousal, admittedly resulting in a fairly energetic activity that he’ll never complain about, but absolutely not sparring. Even the thought of Magnus poised like a cat and ready to strike does things to him that leave him shuffling in slight discomfort on the spot, Alec thinks then with a smile, receiving a smirk to his side, as though Magnus is in his mind once again.

“When we come back,” Magnus says, lacing their fingers together and pulling them back into the house, “we are using that sauna,” and Alec turns just enough to follow the point of his finger and smile at the memories they’ve already created in there.

“Okay,” he says easily, lightly gripping Magnus’ hips as he follows him in, then looking at him expectantly when he turns, “so where’re we going?”

“Considering where we are,” Magnus replies, smiling secretively, “somewhere it would be rude not to go,”

“Okay—” Alec beings to say, watching as Magnus starts to walk away from him then spins back with a flourish and looks him up and down.

“You’ll want to dress warmer,” he adds, gesturing towards him, though his eyes lingering a little slower over his chest with a pleased hum before turning fully away again.

“Okay,” Alec agrees, none the wiser, but smiling helplessly anyway, and wandering through the house find a sweater, only for Magnus to reappear brandishing a thick winter coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, already wearing something similar himself. He makes a fuss of dressing him, tweaking a collar here, adjusting the hat a touch there, before stepping back with a delighted grin and admiring his own handiwork.

“Ready?” he asks, beaming at him.

Alec can’t help smiling harder at the excitement in Magnus’ voice, so gives a single nod, steps forward to kiss him, then slots their hands together and waits.

***

The rest of the evening is spent with Alec blowing off that steam chasing and being chased by Magnus around an open air ice rink, laughing and gasping and weaving in and out of a large group of Mundanes. Sharing shy smiles with a few of them, sampling some alcohol that he’s not sure he ever wants to drink again, and even having a couple of conversations with strangers where he doesn’t feel totally out of his depth.  

And then they’re back at the lake house, in a different kind of steam altogether, taking sips of ice cold vodka in a sauna with a view up to the overhead stars.

* * *

 


End file.
